Acorns on the ground

Vaughan’s committee of the whole was ‘begged’ Tuesday by a Maple mom of two anaphylactic children to remove three oak trees shedding acorns behind a local Catholic school.
However, Donna Giustizia said after the meeting at city hall that if her pleading to the committee doesn’t work and the trees are not removed, she is prepared to take the city to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Ms Giustizia said the oak trees which are planted on city property a few feet in back of the playground at St. Stephen Catholic School at 451 Napa Valley Ave., in Woodbridge, are a threat to students who suffer from tree-nut allergies.
The chairperson and founder of the St. Stephen’s allergy awareness committee, Ms Giustizia said “tree nuts are a life-threatening form of allergy. There is no cure. Strict avoidance is the only way to ensure the life of an anaphylactic child.”
She also explained anaphylactic children suffer from “extreme anxiety” and that St. Stephen had been declared “a peanut and tree-nut safe school environment, which means peanuts and tree nuts of any kind are not allowed on school property. This is a global accommodation accorded to every student who suffers from nut allergies.”
She said the oak trees the city has planted, and the resulting acorns they drop, have “now encroached on this accommodation.
“I’m sure you can appreciate the level of anxiety these students now face when they see acorns in the schoolyard being collected and tossed around by their peers.
“Many of the students unfortunately mistake the acorns for hazelnuts as they look similar. I implore council to consider the mental well-being of these children and the cruel and unusual environment we would be subjecting these students to if we do not relocate these trees, not to mention the fear that could arise should these acorns eventually be used as bullying tactics.”
She told committee that half a decade ago a number of students at the school were forced to fight for accommodation and took their case all the way to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
“Five years ago, six children took their school board to the Ontario Human Rights Commission and in so doing they entered into an agreement endorsed by the commission which included the nut-free environment. As part of their accommodation, I am asking, correction, I am begging council, to honour and respect the accommodation that those children fought for because they paid with their childhood.”
Thornhill/Concord Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco asked Ms Giustizia that if the city removed the trees from the property adjacent to the school would it also have to remove oak trees from other public properties where anaphylactic children might be exposed?
“The city makes no claim to be nut-free. The accommodation only applies to the school,” replied Ms Giustizia.
Regional Councillor Deb Shulte also worried about oak trees on other public lands in Vaughan and what that would mean for the city in future. She wondered whether the concerns about acorns were about a legitimate anaphylactic reaction for students or about whether children wouldn’t be able to recognize the risk to themselves.
Ms Giustizia said both issues are at stake and that the problem with the acorns is that “it’s actually the meat of the acorn (that if ingested can cause anaphylactic shock), not the shell. Half of them that are on the field are crushed.”
She added that kids are “now surrounded by them, kids are throwing them, they’re playing with them, they’re bringing them inside. It’s a disaster. This is a mercy call.”
The committee decided to have staff prepare a report for its next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. at city hall.